Skiing

Alpine skiing takes hold as snow is plentiful

By RICHARD A. ROSS

WARWICK, NY — Ski edges sharpened? Check. Goggles on? Check. Bib number visible? Check.

Standing in the starting gate at the top of Mount Peter, Sullivan County’s top high school skiers peer down the slope and exhale a steamy breath of air as they prepare to plummet down the trail, trying to establish new personal and team milestones this winter.

With weekly races at Holiday Mountain and the far more challenging races at Mount Peter, which has supplanted Belle- ayre Mountain as the locale for many of the Section Nine ski competitions, teams from Monticello, Sullivan West, Liberty and Fallsburg/Tri-Valley will brave the freezing temperatures of January and February to compete in the sport they love beyond measure.

One look at the Facebook pages of some of the county’s high school ski mavens, such as Monticello’s Colin Bunce, readily conveys the excitement. Bunce is one of a burgeoning number of alpine advocates who prefer the frosty slopes of the ski hill to the steamy confines of an indoor track arena or the raucous and well-populated basketball venues. Teammates Skylar Glick, Ryan Heins and Sullivan West’s Alex Lander and Drew Billard also fall into that category. All of them were participants in last year’s sectional championships. Also watch for fine performances from more of last year’s sectional contenders, including Tri-Valley’s John Bernstein and Weston Currey.

As they gather in the lodge prior to each race, the skiers from area schools form a small community of aficionados who share a passion for flying over the white stuff.

With only a few loyal parents and friends on hand to watch them careen down the hills, skiers are intensely self-motivated as they vie against their number-one adversary, the clock. Between now and the state championships, which will be held on February 24 and 25 at Bristol Mountain in Canandaigua, skiers will look to let it all fly with hopes of setting new personal bests, making it to sectionals and, for the elite, the privilege of going on to states.

Last year, Monticello’s boys won their first Section Nine alpine ski title, a crown owned seemingly forever by Onteora. Ryan Sonnenschein and Ian Laufersweiler graduated, but the team is still strong.

The Lady Monties boasted the best academic average of any girl ski team in the state as they won the NYSPHSAA Scholar Athlete title. They finished second on the slopes in Section Nine to Onteora. Haley Heins was the section’s top finisher at states a year ago, and hopes to improve even more in ’09. She finished just ahead of Tri-Valley’s Samantha Adriaans who graduated in June. Monticello returns with a strong group of girl skiers, including Amy Heins and Devinne DuPuy. Watch for coming articles as these and others begin to evince noteworthy performances on the slopes. Sullivan West’s Kassie Thelman was another state qualifier who will be back this season. Her sister Kellee was a Section Nine qualifier who will also be on the slopes. Look for the return of Tri-Valley’s Rachel Ariaans and Fallsburg’s Lauren Elliot, both sectional qualifiers.

Key meet dates to circle on the calendar

This year’s Section Nine meet is scheduled for February 10, but its location has not yet been determined.

A bevy of slalom and giant slalom races are scheduled for Mount Peter in Warwick. Dates for these are as follows:

Slalom: January 8, boys and girls; January 12, boys and girls; January 20, boys and girls; January 30, girls.

Giant Slalom: January 15, boys and girls; February 4, boys and girls.

Races at Holiday Mountain: January 8, 13, 15, 21 and February 3.